Complete HarpWeek Explanation:Instead of inspecting his army troops, presidential nominee General Winfield
Hancock peers into the gaping maw of the emaciated Democratic Tiger, symbol of
his political troops. After years of being shut out of the White House,
Democrats are hungering for a victory so that they may enjoy the spoils of
office: political patronage. Dr. Tanner, mentioned in the posters on the wall,
was a controversial health reformer who promoted "therapeutic fasting"
and argued that starvation was a state of mind. "Loaves and Fishes" is
adapted from the New Testament miracle of Jesus feeding his mass of followers
with only a few loaves of bread and fish. Cartoonist Thomas Nast used
"loaves and fishes" as a catch-phrase to indicate political patronage
(or "spoils").